Executive Read: March

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"The Art of Possibility,"
by Rosamund Stone Zander
and Benjamin Zander

Reviewed by Margaret Telchert and Oleg Kaganovich

The co-authors of “The Art of Possibility” are, among other things, a family therapist/landscape painter and a conductor for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. So what’s a right-brained pair like this doing writing a book for Harvard Business School? They are advocating balance and harmony to a group trained in strategy and maneuvering, arguably the kind of audience that needs it most.
    Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander have written a book that embraces the theory that creativity is an essential adult skill, whether or not it’s part of a job description. According to the authors, when people and organizations recognize they need a change, they tend to make “incremental changes that lead to new ways of doing things based on old beliefs.”
    Rather, transformation requires a “total shift of posture, perceptions, beliefs and thought processes.” Instead of case studies, the book is written through alternating perspectives and observations that demonstrate how possibility can play in everyday life. Through their stories, parables and personal anecdotes, they offer 12 practices that will enable readers to become more passionate communicators, leaders and performers whose lives radiate possibility into the world.
    In one such practice, “Giving an A,” they assert that focusing solely on grades (and equivalent adult measures of achievement) is a behavior that makes us lose sight of why we’re doing, learning or practicing a thing in the first place. In Benjamin’s classroom, all students receive an A if they write him a postdated letter relating “the story of what will have happened to you by next May that is in line with this extraordinary grade.” This, he says, allows his students to envision their own futures rather than worry about their current performance.
Continued...

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